Asymmetric Bets
Hedge Fund Analyst, Private Company CFO, Idiosyncratic Stocks & Accelerating Fundamentals
SK hynix trades at about 3x next year's earnings once adjusted for cash build and equity stakes, with $200B+ of profit expected next year. If 2028 profit matches, its enterprise value would be $400B or less, under 2x 2029 earnings; even if pricing falls, a bad scenario is about 5x 2029 earnings. Per @wallstengine, Q2 operating margin hit a record 76% as revenue rose 257% year on year, though revenue and profit missed estimates. x.com
SK hynix still trades at just 5x 2027 EPS ahead of its July 10 US ADR listing, despite FUD over a possible Apple-CXMT deal, memory makers being sued for price collusion and Etched going viral. Conviction is limited: memory is likely to top in Q3, next year's comparisons will be abysmal, and the stock fits a preference for huge acceleration at reasonable multiples less and less, so it will never get a market multiple. The ADR is a point to sell. x.com x.com
A new sell-side forecast for SK hynix's Q4 operating profit strengthens its low-valuation case. The report looks for a 40% sequential rise to $88B, up 560% year over year. SK hynix might earn over $350B in operating profit in 2027 against an $800B market cap, or about 2x EV/operating profit after accounting for cash and its Kioxia stake. It could afford to buy back half its shares over three years. x.com
SK hynix's reported growth and shareholder returns make its low earnings multiple stand out. Revenue rose 328% year over year and operating profit 632%, with shareholder returns worth about 9.5% of market cap, yet the stock trades at roughly 3.0 times estimated 2027 earnings. x.com
SK hynix's US listing trades at a 20% premium to Korea, hard to justify for a peak cyclical name on peak earnings whose estimates were just revised down. x.com
SK hynix has unusually strong earnings visibility because it expects memory demand to exceed supply through 2030, while long-term agreements with 14 customers cover more than half of its 2027 and 2028 production capacity. Record Q3 operating profit of KRW 83.3T also beat the KRW 76.7T estimate. x.com x.com
SK hynix should reprice strongly because its blowout earnings make the case that memory is structurally different now. At the current earnings pace, it would earn back its entire market cap in two years; buybacks and dividends also return cash to shareholders and add to value. x.com
Micron, SK hynix and SanDisk look absurdly cheap, but the market refuses to pay more for their earnings because no one knows what sales or margins look like five years out. Today's roughly 5x earnings could prove ridiculously cheap, yet those earnings could just as easily fall until 5x becomes 20x. That raises the question of whether owning them is investment or speculation. x.com x.com
SK hynix's expected widening supply-demand gap makes the 2028 downcycle implied by its valuation seem impossible. SK hynix management says its shares are undervalued relative to earnings and cash flow, and that assessment rings true. x.com x.com
SK hynix's record earnings and five-year volume and spec agreements make its valuation look too low. Quarterly revenue reached KRW104.62T, up 32%, and operating profit hit $63B against a $785B market cap, below AMD's and less than half Tesla's. Its planned KRW100T (~$75B) shareholder return would be one of the world's largest, signaling conviction and unusual demand visibility. AI-inference 3D DRAM is coming by 2030; a reasonable valuation is all that is sought. x.com x.com x.com x.com x.com … Show more
SK hynix's plan for more shareholder returns looks like the beginning of the end for the company. In a historically cyclical industry, giving money away instead of investing to avoid that cyclicality signals it can't find anywhere else to put its incoming cash. SK hynix said it is considering additional shareholder return measures, with details due in the third quarter. x.com x.com x.com
SK hynix's earnings and buybacks could drive a tripling by 2027 before a re-rating, on Jonah Lupton's assumptions. Its Q3 report expects memory demand to outpace supply through 2030 as advanced processes and fab lead times constrain growth. It plans about KRW 100 trillion in FY2026 shareholder returns, including KRW 60 trillion or more in share acquisitions or cancellations; the buybacks would first reduce shares outstanding. x.com x.com x.com x.com x.com x.com
